Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria to Meet in Sydney for Cunard Line Anniversary

Two Queens - Cunard's flagship Queen Mary 2 and her younger sister Queen Victoria - will for the first time on Thursday spend the day together in Sydney.

A fireworks display will mark the occasion at 9.15pm, as Queen Mary 2 leaves Circular Quay and sails past Queen Victoria anchored at Athol Buoy near Taronga Zoo.

To celebrate the rendezvous and its 175th anniversary year, Cunard is also launching a photographic exhibition on the boardwalk at the Opera House.

Captured by Sydney photographer James Morgan, who has snapped Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth around the globe, the OneSevenFive exhibition will provide an insight into life onboard.

Featuring 71 images displayed on two-metre-high panels, the collection's final two images - from Thursday's rendezvous - will be installed on Friday morning. The exhibition will remain in place for 175 hours, until Thursday, March 19.

"I think everyone in this city would remember the three very special royal rendezvous of other Cunard ships on our harbour over recent years," said Ann Sherry, chief executive of Carnival Australia, which represents Cunard in Australia. "This Thursday will be no different as Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria make history with their first ever joint visit to Sydney."

The 2000-guest Queen Victoria will berth in Sydney about 5.30am on Wednesday, spending the day at the Overseas Passenger Terminal. At about 3.30am the following morning, the 90,000-tonne ship will move from Circular Quay to Athol Buoy to make way for her "big sister", Queen Mary 2, which is scheduled to sail through the heads at 3.45am on Thursday morning.

Still the largest ship to visit Australia, the 151,400-tonne Queen Mary 2 is expected to berth at the Overseas Passenger Terminal about 4.45am on Thursday.

The Sydney visit of the 2600-guest ship comes two months into her 113-night world voyage.

Wednesday March 11

· 4.30am – Queen Victoria sails into Sydney Harbour.

· 5.30am – Queen Victoria berths at Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay.

Thursday March 12

· 3.30am – Queen Victoria sails from the Overseas Passenger Terminal to berth at Athol Buoy.

· 3.45am – Queen Mary 2 enters Sydney Harbour.

· 4.45am – Queen Mary 2 berths at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

· Noon – OneSevenFive photo exhibition of Cunard's Three Queens on Sydney Opera House's Western Boardwalk opens to public.

· 9pm – Queen Mary 2 departs Overseas Passenger Terminal en route to Milford Sound, New Zealand.

· 9.15pm – Fireworks as Queen Mary 2 sails past Queen Victoria at Athol Buoy.

· 11pm – Queen Victoria sails from Athol Buoy en route to Akaroa, New Zealand.

Previous Cunard Royal Rendezvous in Sydney

· February 20, 2007 – Sydney was brought to a standstill for the city's first official Cunard Royal Rendezvous when Queen Mary 2 made her maiden visit to Australia, meeting with QE2 in Sydney Harbour.

· February 24, 2008 – The newly launched Queen Victoria made her first visit to Sydney for a Royal Rendezvous with QE2, which was making her final call to the city before she retired from the Cunard fleet.

· February 22-23, 2011 – Queen Mary 2 and the newly launched Queen Elizabeth visited Sydney for the city's third Royal Rendezvous.

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Princess Mary Charms Sydney Crowds

Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary have toured Sydney, viewing clifftop sculptures, eating barbecued prawns, and taking a boat trip on the harbour as adoring crowds waved Danish flags.

The royal couple's trip is geared around strengthening trade and business ties between Australia and Denmark, with a focus on green energy and sustainability.

They kicked off their Sydney visit with a tour of the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition at Bondi.

The couple examined some of the sculptures, including a work by Danish sculptor Keld Moseholm and a work titled Who Left The Tap Running by Simon McGrath.

The exhibition holds a special significance for the pair, who visited it when they were first dating after Mary met the prince at a Sydney nightclub during the 2000 Olympics.

Mary was also living in Bondi when she met her future husband.

The couple's ten-month-old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, arrived in Sydney with their mother on a Saturday morning flight, while Prince Frederik arrived on a separate flight later that day.

The older royal children, Prince Christian, 6, and Princess Isabella, 4, did not accompany them, the Danish consulate confirmed.

Crowd-pleasers

The royal couple waved and smiled as they were welcomed by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and his wife Rosemary before visiting the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.

Mr O'Farrell said he was delighted to have the royal couple back to Sydney.

"Like many Australians, we share in the royal romance and relationship that some have described as a fairytale," Mr O'Farrell said.

They shook hands with several people in the crowd, some of whom cried "welcome to Australia".

Later, Mary and Frederik jumped onto energy-generating bikes to make themselves smoothies after opening an urban sustainability conference at Customs House.

The venue at Circular Quay was just over one kilometre from the Slip Inn, the bar where the couple famously met during the 2000 Olympics.

Later, they mingled with 400 guests, mainly from the Danish business community, at a barbecue at the Garden Island naval base on Sydney Harbour.

The barbecue menu included Tasmanian scallops, lamb and mint sausages, king prawns, Sydney rock oysters, barramundi, marinated Atlantic salmon, King Island beef eye fillet and pavlova with King Island cream.

The couple were spattered with a burst of heavy rainfall as they later boarded a boat to go to Admiralty House.

The couple's six-day visit to Australia includes stops at Canberra, Melbourne, western Victoria and Broken Hill in NSW, and will be followed by a private family visit.

Crown Princess Mary was born Mary Donaldson in Hobart and the couple married in Copenhagen in 2004.

It is the royal family's first visit to Australia since August 2008, although Princess Mary came for a private visit last year.

Princess Mary to Pay Official Visit to Melbourne & Sydney

Denmark's Crown Princess Mary will attend two Alannah and Madeline Foundation events in Melbourne as part of her official visit to Australia in November.

Tasmanian-born Princess Mary and her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, will attend a lunch supporting the foundation's eSmart cybersafe program and its Starry Starry Night gala ball.

Princess Mary is the international patron of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, a charity aimed at protecting children from violence.

The November 26 events will fill the last day of the royal couple's week-long official Australian visit.

Alannah and Madeline Foundation chief executive Judith Slocombe said the foundation was honoured to have the royal couple attend their events.

"In her role as international patron, the Crown Princess was instrumental in helping to gain initial support for eSmart during her visit to Australia in 2008," Dr Slocombe said in a statement.

The eSmart program is a framework for helping schools manage cybersafety and deal with cyberbullying and has been tested in 159 schools.

The foundation is working with the Victorian and Queensland governments to install it in all government schools in those states.

Princess Mary has been the Alannah and Madeline Foundation international patron since 2005 and in 2008 attended a dinner to help raise money for the development of eSmart.

The foundation says key business leaders and philanthropists from around the country will join the royal couple for next month's eSmart lunch, while the Starry Starry Night ball is already sold out.

Princess Mary and Prince Frederik are visiting Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra as guests of the federal government from November 19 to 26, in their first official visit to Australia as a couple since 2005.

They will also lead a business delegation focused on green energy, sustainable living and food technologies during their visit, which the government says is an opportunity to enhance trade and business ties in these areas between Australia and Denmark.

View source: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/princess-mary-to-pay-official-visit-to-melbourne-20111011-1li9d.html#ixzz1aRgQybbF